Hot and sticky

[redfox]

This week it's been pretty darn hot and sticky for May. I work at home and my air conditioner's busted -- oof! The result is that I crave foods that will make me feel all sprightly and tonic-ed up. Summer foods aren't in season yet, and I don't want to live on nothing soda water and sprigs of mint. What to do?

Aside from the obvious frozen treats, what do you like to cook that shakes off that sticky, sluggish feeling?

I'll kick off: I made a vegetable broth that I'm hoping will be good in a sort of Bloody Mary variant, but also zingy with a little freshly squeezed lemon juice as a first course. It's not unlike V8, but I think much tastier.

Vegetables: (organic canned) tomatoes, spinach, parsley, red pepper, carrots, basil, onion, garlic;

Spices: coriander, cumin, peppercorns, fennel seeds, cayenne, tamarind paste, salt

Simmered till all the goodness goes out of the vegetables and into the broth, then strained.

[flip6577]

On hot and sticky days I crave a salad, referred to in my youth as a Chinese Ceasar. First I start by soaking rice stick noodles in hot water until they are soft. Then run under cold water and chop these and toss with a chopped head of romaine lettuce. I sometimes add grilled chicken or shrimp. The dressing is fairly simple: Veg. Oil, Rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, salt, sugar, black pepper and ginger (ground ginger does make a reasonable sub). Then I toss the salad and enjoy the refreshment.

Flip

[reesek]

flips salad reminds me of vietnamese fresh rolls which i find very refreshing.

rice paper wrapper, rice stick noodles, cooked halved prawns, sprigs of cilantro, thai basil (or mint), thin slices of fresh jalepeno, julienned scallion, carrot & cucumber.

i dip it into sweet chili sauce that i dilute slightly w/rice wine vinegar and top with scallions.

serve with lemon drops.

[kitwilliams]

In Nigella Lawson's "How To Be A Domestic Goddess", she has a recipe for Gin & Tonic Jelly (Jell-o here in the States). It is delicious and refreshing. I served it for July 4th last year. But be warned: it is also Potent!

On a more serious note: Gazpacho. Soooo refreshing.

[suzilightning]

lost our power for 6 hours because of a storm last night

it was ok this morning but, beginning about noon here in northwestern nj the humidity began to rise and now there is heat lightning - probably about to become real lightning- in the sky. for lunch my friend and i had lightly toasted semolina bread, tuna salad, red leaf lettuce with sliced plum tomato; the last of the stuffed apricots for dessert.

give me cold meat/fish/veg salads with leaf lettuces or mache any day

oh, a cold lager is good, too

Edited May 12, 2004 by suzilightning (log)

[balmagowry]

Aaaaaahhhh... it's time for schtchav. Or Sour Cream and Radishes. Finally!

[GG Mora]

Salady Viet foods do it for me. Fresh crunchy vegetables & bright flavors.

[NulloModo]

I'm sure someone is going to say Larb.

Fresh Jicama slices tossed with a little EVOO, lemon or lime juice, cracked black pepper, and maybe a bit of Cilantro would be good too.

[redfox]

Salad, of course! Silly me. Tonight for dinner we had little bowls of the broth (indeed very tasty but not thick enough, I think, for Bloody Marys) and an enormous salad with romaine, lots of hothouse basil, cilantro, scallions, radishes, thinly sliced aburage, feta, and peanuts in a lemon vinaigrette. It was good, oh so good, though now I really want some Vietnamese summer rolls.

(What's schtchav?)

[balmagowry]

(What's schtchav?)

Russian sorrel soup. Haven't made it from scratch in forever or so, because some of the bottled ones (found in the kosher section in most supermarkets, though they may sport fewer consonants) are surprisingly good - if you doctor 'em up right and chill 'em enough.

Big bowl. Throw in scallions, cut up pretty fine (say 1/4"). Put in some salt. Mush around with spoon against sides of bowl so the salt bruises the scallions. Then stir in a good-sized dollop of sour cream. Then start stirring in the soup - only a little at first, and adding very gradually so that the sour cream blends in smoothly. When it's all put together together, you put in a few Kirby cucumbers, peeled and diced. Chill the hell out of it, maybe even put some chunks of ice in the bowl a little before serving. Have a little extra sour cream on hand for those who want it.

In the summer, I could live on this stuff.

BTW, sour cream & radishes starts the same way. Bowl, scallions, salt, smush, bruise. Then it's sour cream, thin slices of small red radishes, peeled/diced Kirby cucumbers. Mix well, chill thoroughly. If worried about fat, you can substitute yogurt for maybe 1/2 the sour cream.

Doesn't sound like much, but it's heaven in a bowl.

[foodie52]

Smoothies. With tofu for protein. Sipped through a straw.

[Cusina]

In Nigella Lawson's "How To Be A Domestic Goddess", she has a recipe for Gin & Tonic Jelly (Jell-o here in the States). It is delicious and refreshing. I served it for July 4th last year. But be warned: it is also Potent!

On a more serious note: Gazpacho. Soooo refreshing.

oh this sounds good!

I've made gelatin with sauterne and berries or peaches, but never g&t.

thanks for the idea :)

[aliwaks]

I am right there with the gazpacho I love gazpacho !!! esp. with a shot of vodka and a dollop of sour cream

Cold soups cucumber yogurt, sweet pea with mint oooooh

cold shrimp and Vietnamese summer rolls....

extremely cold watermelon can be like the best thing EVER

I remember having a salad at Home in the West Village that was simply thinly sliced radishes & cucumbers with a buttermilk dressing I try to replicate every summer.

And of course anything middle eastern (my favorite) grilled merguez sausage on pita with cucumbers, tomato , mint & yogurt if I can get my hands on melon juice then oh yes!!!

Had a wonderful meal in a middle eastern restaurant West London with Marlena Spieler that included this iced honeydew juice that Marlena did utmost justice to by proclaiming 'I hear angels singing" and it was the mark and glass copy and book of all other middle eastern meals for me.

also favorite summer dinner/ tomato fresh mozzarelle basil salad. smoked chicken with sliced avocado.... ice cold melon.... a recurring theme

[lorea]

Chinese style cold noodles....yum! Depending on the region, it's peanuty, sesame-y, garlicky, spicy, and refreshing!

I'm also another one for Vietnamese spring rolls.

Edited May 12, 2004 by lorea (log)

[balmagowry]

Ajo Blanco.

[bloviatrix]

I had one of my favorite summer lunches today: tuna mixed with homemade basil-garlic mayonnaise on good bread. (I made the first basil-garlic mayo of the season yesterday. )

Salmon poached in white wine and orange juice and then chilled and served on a bed of greens makes a nice hot weather meal.

Edited May 12, 2004 by bloviatrix (log)

[Behemoth]

- salad sandwich: basically a BLT with cucumber instead of the B.

- cucumber & yoghurt salad

- labneh and olive sandwiches

- watermelon & feta

- tomato sandwiches

- get up early and fry up some eggplant slices while it's still cool out. Later, eat at room temp with cold yoghurt, drizzle of olive oil and toasted pine nuts.

- frozen blueberries

-mushed up avocado on a bagel, with salt and lots of cracked black pepper.

- tabbouleh (the real kind, parsley salad with a little bulgar.)

- elbow or shell macaroni with sauce of cold yoghurt, a little mashed garlic & dried mint

- I crave, and need to learn how to make, that japanese dish with cold soba noodles that you dip into broth. Yum.

I used to live in an un-airconditioned attic apartment, so I got tons. For me its not just the temperature, it has to be easy on the stomach when it's that hot out.

[Radio7]

Margheritas!

- Watermelon, bien sure

- Ice-cold celery sticks with a thin layer of peanut butter, and a drizzle of honey

- Tabbouleh

- Homeade Limeade. Also, iced coffee!

- Beef carpaccio with baby greens (tossed in a light citrus dressing)

- Salmon sashimi

- Wheatberry salad.

- Plain slices of red, green, yellow peppers. So fresh and crisp!

[Mabelline]

We had that thread of Anna's asking what to do for dessert with nothing at hand, and got into sorbets with a can of fruits in heavy sugar (canned) frozen, then whirred, and that got me spinning off some others: Rotel sauce for a grill accompaniment, sweetened, condensed milk with fruit for a sherbet,mandarin orange segments to go along with chicken, etc., etc. etc...

[redfox]

(What's schtchav?)

Russian sorrel soup.

Oh man, that sounds good. I love sorrel anyhow, and, well, my word. Mm.

And behemoth, I agree completely. If it's hard to digest, it makes my engine overheat.

Edited May 12, 2004 by redfox (log)

[phaelon56]

Salady Viet foods do it for me. Fresh crunchy vegetables & bright flavors.

Yes that's the ticket. A big plate of Goi Ga (Viet style chicken salad), some fresh rolls and a glass of iced coffee with condensed milk.

I also love that Thai salad with crispy duck, pineapple and cashews when the weather is hot. What I don't want to do is kitchen prep once it gets over 90 degrees.

[Suzanne F]

Mabelline -- what great ideas! (Now, if I could only get Rotel at my supermarket )

One more vote for Thai-style salads. Although I can eat them anytime, and do. My trick for them is to always have some roasted meat or poultry in the freezer: just thaw and toss with the greens, herbs, cellophane or somen noodles, etc. The only prep is cooking the noodles (just a couple of minutes), washing all the leaves, and slicing/dicing what needs to be cut. No big deal, and what a payoff!

[suzilightning]

930 am and it is hot and sticky here in northwest nj again - i feel a thunderstorm coming on about 5pm just when johnnybird should be arriving at newark liberty . for breakfast i had one of my favorite things - 1cup milk, 3 tbsp coffee syrup and 5 ice cubes in the blender. whizz it up and drink it.

both lunch and dinner are at work today in air conditioning though i am taking some cottage cheese, cup up berries and soy yoghurt something also very cooling to eat.

hmmmm...... i may have to break out the fixin's for white sangria if this continues

[Mayhaw Man]

I live in the home of hot and sticky. I live in a swamp where we average roughly 65" (it has rained 10" in the last three days-really ) of rainfall per year and the average humidity is above 50% at almost all times. During the summer every day (June through late September) it is plus 90F every damn day and rarely below 75F at night. It is truly hot and sticky.

I also live in an old house that was built for this kind of weather- tall ceilings, transoms over all interior doors, ceiling fans, etc.- and all of that works fine until I crank up my beautiful, but really hot, old O'Keefe and Merrit Stove. We try to avoid cranking up any of the ovens unless absolutely needed, as it takes a long time to cool the house off afterwards.

The consequences of all of this is that we end up eating alot of cold meals during the summer. Lots of light stuff and even more stuff that can be cooked on the grill or outside in the smoker.

Sliced, salted and peppered tomatoes out of my garden

Sliced, vinegared (not pickled, just floated in spiced, chilled vinegar for an hour or so) cucumbers are pretty much a constant. We always have some of these in the fridge.

Sliced melons of all sorts-I like cantalope, honeydew, crenshaw, etc. My wife likes watermelon (she eats it by the bowl full when they are fresha and cheap.

Cold beef salads (sliced marinated beef that has been seared on the grill and marinated in various stuff-I have lots of recipes if anyone is interested)

Pimento Cheese (made from great cheddar-we make a mason jar full about once a week-the stuff is great grilled, cold, on crackers, or as it should be-on white bread )

Gazpacho-a huge favorite at our house. We can make a big batch (I like the one out of the first Silver Palate book) and it will last for three or four days.

I know that we are not talking cold and sweet here, but too bad for the rule makers- We also eat smoothies pretty regularly-more or less as meals-especially lunch and breakfast. I have a freezer full of IQF tropical fruit (I love that stuff, great invention), frozen strawberry puree (I put it up when strawberries were cheap last week and it will last for three or four months). We supplement that with fresh fruit and it makes for a cool, sweet, and nutricious snack. I love those things. Thanks Mr. Waring. You were one swinging inventor.

Spring rolls of various sorts. I make a bunch of them at once with shrimp and they will last a few days in the fridge.

Chicken Salad with Pecans (light on the mayo)

Lots of fresh salad with greens out of the garden (mine and whoever's garden

I can grab them out of)

[Betts]

Check out the white gazpacho recently posted on the eG recipe forum. AlexP made it for a Minneapolis gathering and it was a hugh hit.